Tag: New York Times

Kevin Hart at the Ilikai Hotel and Luxury Suites, in Honolulu. Marco Garcia for The New York Times

Celebrity photo shoots are a rarity for me here in Honolulu so it is always a pleasure, and challenge, to get a high profile person in front of my lens. The New York Timesrecently commissioned me to do a portrait of funny man Kevin Hart as they were featuring Hart in the Style section’s List of Five. Hart, who’s in town filming a Jumaji sequel, alongside Dwyane The Rock Johnson and Jack Black, agreed to be photographed on a day off from filming. My job was to create a natural light portrait of him along with capturing some close-ups of his stylish clothing.

I arrived at the Illikai Hotel early one Sunday morning where I was met by his personal assistant and given a key to a suite on a top floor of the hotel. He said to head up to the room and Kevin would be up shortly. Of course, that meant Kevin would arrive whenever he was ready so I prepared for a long wait allowing me plenty of time to scout the location finding the best light and angles. I wasn’t sure how much time he’d give me all considering Sunday was likely his day off and he probably cared little about this photo shoot.

As I waited for his arrival, his personal videographer surprising arrived at the suite and I learned Kevin Hart was also doing some sound bites during the session. I immediately recognized Kwan from a video clip in which Kevin was kicking a soccer ball against the goalie from Manchester City. Kevin was yelling at Kwan during the memorable clip and we shared a good laugh about that, which actually put me at ease. Having too much time to kill filled me with pre-game anxiety and it was good to shoot the breeze with someone who knew Kevin well.

About an hour later, Kevin makes himself up to the suite. He warmly but impersonally greets me, talks with Kwan a bit then sits on the sofa and we get to work. I immediately grab my cameras and guide Kevin effortlessly around the large room. He was very easy to work with and made little, if any demands of me, which helped me get through the photo shoot problem free.

My only difficulty with Kevin Hart was he not wanting to remove his Tom Ford sunglasses that stylishly obstructed his face. Whether the photo editors would be happy with this was beyond me as he flat out said no, but I had no choice and continued to shoot around it. Luckily, the shot the Times picked was of him on the balcony gazing out at the harbor, shades on. The sunglasses added a nice touch, if not fashionable touch.

Sadly, I didn’t leave the suite with my side in stitches as I had hoped Kevin would have worked his magic that morning. But sometimes when your job is to make people laugh for a living, the last thing you want to do is get into the routine on your day off. Other than my iPhone, I rarely have a camera on me and cringe when friends ask me to take their picture.

Nevertheless, the job was a success and during my editing of the take that afternoon, I watched some clips of Kevin on You Tube and had a great laugh.

A surfer falls of the lip of a huge wave at Peahi, Maui. 16,000+ Likes on the New York Times Instagram page!

Its been a great week for work this week as I’ve had two big travel stories on the Big Island and Maui run in the New York Times and the Associated Press released my writing and pictures on a trip to Kalaupapa on Molokai.

But if anyone takes likes as a measure of fulfillment, the shot of the surfer flying off his board at Jaws on Maui got over 16,000 likes on the @nytimestravel instagram page. Impressive!

But more impressive for myself is my new career of writing. In college I wanted to be a writer and took a few classes but didn’t take myself seriously to follow through with any of it. I doodled in diaries and mailed long love letters during my travels in Latin America and Asia. But its only been in the last few years that I’ve gotten acknowledged as a writer and published. Taking pictures has become second nature for me but writing is still the great frontier.

Over the years, Molokai has proven to be a difficult island for me to travel and document. I’ve had a few negative experiences including an angry haole transplants demanding I leave his island, to really bad weather, (and I mean really bad weather) to a near fatal ride on the back mule that nearly tumbled down the side of a mountain. Molokai has been challenging to say the least in my photo history. However, the charming island always embraces me and I always capture something fantastic, even though I still fear a confrontation from an angry non-natives.

I took an overnight trip to Molokai trip for The New York Times this past December to capture the island’s small time charm and natural wonders. The focus of writer Lynn Zinser’s story was a character named Waipa Purdy, whom I found almost instantly inside of Kanemitsu’s Bakery, a coffee shop with a Cheers-esque vibe where everybody knows your name…and also knows when you’re an outsider. Purdy, a long time resident with a local lineage stretching back many decades, quickly embraced me and introduced me to a colorful cast of residents, relatives, and a few visitors who had been in town long enough for him to meet. Purdy quickly helped soothe out my position on the island as not just a visitor but also a friend. Small town residences tend to keep their guard up when cameras slinging strangers come stomping through town so it was great to get his blessing in front of what felt like the whole town gathered at the decades old bakery.

After taking many pictures in the small town of Kaunakakai, I headed out see the rest of the island. Although the island is relatively small, there are pockets of microclimates that turn the monochromatic Molokai into a vastly colorful environment. Having traversed the island in the past, I knew what to capture and where to go. But I found some great luck at Kepuhi Bay, on Molokai’s west side as I captured a wonderful sunset shot.

The west side’s usually yields a great images at sunset but having only a few days to capture a famous Molokai sunset, I worried I had chosen the right location. Sunsets always do seem “greener” on the other side but by the time I set up, I had no choice but to stay put and await the drop. As the descent began, I moved myself towards a rocky cliff that bordered the bay to the left and lined up the waves, rocks and sun into what turned into a cover shot for the story. I had been standing next to a group of locals who were also taking pictures and one of the guys turned to me and said I was really lucky, as everyone had recognized the surreal sunset we had just witnessed.

Back in January of this year, one of Capital Hill’s and Hawaii’s own shining star announced she was engaged and and getting married in the spring in Honolulu. US Rep Tulsi Gabbard, the newly elected maverick who regularly bucks her own party standing strong for what she believes in, was breaking hearts from the Ala Wai to the Potomac but her mystery man swept her off her surfboard and into his arms.

Some of you have read I’ve photographed Tulsi a few times for the news and once for a big New York magazine. Tulsi also saved my wife from a pack of zombies…no…uh…well… it wolves…I mean, mmmmmmm, well, I forget the original story as the narrative changes from time to time but she did stand between a potential danger and my wife as she walked home from work one day. Tulsi used to live in our downtown Honolulu condo and I would regularly accost her in the elevator getting a captive audience to complain about fire station sirens, homeless, and whatever took my fancy at the time but she never shied away and listened intently to my quagmire of complains and moans.

Years later after she became a member of Congress, Tulsi would go out of her way to say “Hi” to me at political or news events so it was nice to know I could count on her as a friend. She’s a genuine person but it was quite surprising to me when I got an email from her asking if I would shoot her wedding. Flattered as I was, I almost said no knowing this wasn’t my line of work but realized how important a wedding is to most people, I honorably took on the challenge and became her official photographer.

Knowing I could not do it alone, I needed to bring along a hired gun and I had several choices at hand but picked Hugh Gentry to be my second hand man. Hugh’s TV news and wire service background were just what I needed as the wedding would be quick and furious. As the wedding drew interest from around the globe, Tulsi needed us to get the images out to the media immediately after the wedding. I knew Hugh was up to the task.

Tulsi and her finance Abe were married in a beautiful Vedic wedding ceremony full of pageantry and color. The scene was a mix of Hawaii meets Hindu spiritualism with Tulsi dressed in an Indian style sari adorned with layers of tropical flower leis. The wedding was held in a secluded location on the east side of Oahu near an ancient Hawaiian fish pond. National, state, and local politicians were in attendance along with a few Hollywood and local big names. There was also a few international VIP in attendance. It was quite the crowd.

I documented the wedding from the beginning to the end with Hugh filling in the holes which i was not able to cover. I had full access to her and got to see her smiles, hear her laughter, and capture her tears. Her family was warm and embracing and tolerated my camera poking into every private moment.

In the end, the images turned out beautiful with images making the New York Times, People Magazine, and the local news. We created great images and documented a very special night.

A day of shooting election primaries for a wire news agency isn’t loads of fun. It usually consists of chasing the fake smiles of hopeful candidates and shooting their manicured smiles and prom queen waves. You drive all around town to different locations where the politicians are doing their last minute sign waving trying to capture that one undecided voter passing by.

So last week’s coverage of the primaries gave me some of the better pictures I’ve taken in some time. As I drove down Beretania St. on the way to see Ed Case waving down on the Pali Hwy, the traffic slowed down a bit as we neared the Capital. Several police cars with flashing lights caused just enough rubbernecking to make traffic just that more irritating but I noticed something slightly out of place.

She’s naked!

So I weaved my way through the rubberneckers spinning around the Capital to rush up on the small group of Occupy Wall Streeters turn Honolulu and found a porty protestor, a cop, and a leggy blonde with plenty of tattoos and just enough tape to cover the naughty bits. With these type of elements forming all around, its hard not to get a great photo. Her sign of getting screwed bu the politicians works very well.

I had just enough time to capture them waving their signs and cops around them to capture a few pictures and move on. So I hopped back in the car and was driving past the protest when I noticed the large lady in the wheelchair rolling down the cross walk nearing the Occupiers. I only had my 24-70mm lens at hand and the light was green so I had no other option but to shoot and just crop. Little did I know I captured a great moment.

So I get back and transmit my take to NYC and sadly found the editors didn’t have the courage to move the “graphic content” or so they say. They can run headless bodies, blood and guts, and whatnot but no boobs. Oh well, you can’t win ’em all.

A note on pictures…sometimes you can’t plan it. It just happens. Looking through past great photographs, it seems most photographers didn’t plan to be at that place at that moment. Things just unraveled in front of them. This New York Times piece has a POWERFUL image of a Tibetan protestor who set himself on fire protesting Ju Jintao’s visit to India this year. Its a powerful moment that could have never been planned. I can only imagine the photographer, Manish Swarup, never would have thought he have a shot like this. There was no time to think about composure, f stops, what type of lens is on the camera, filters, iso, etc…nothing. Absolutely no time to think as its just a reaction. And sometimes those reactions are things that happen out of no where.

My picture is not award winning nor is it life changing for me and I shouldn’t event mention my name in the same breath as Manish Swarp, but its those moments that are unplanned and just happen.

Funny, AP ran the image of the self-immolation…but they didn’t run mine.